Myself and Tomegun hit CCE today. We found the fishies not wanting to cooperate with our plan. The fishing was pretty slow today. We fished all over the bay, but really didn't find one particular spot that was really good. We ended up with 7 fish on the deck for the day, all cutts, and all in the slot. They took a variety of lures/baits, but the majority of my fish came off of my Mean Joe Green feather tailed jig. We got checked today...which was kinda nice. A couple of fishcops were cruising around on sleds checking everyone. The guy that checked us said he had given out one ticket, not for violating the slot, but for using a second pole! He said everyone seemed to be obeying the slot...which was good. He mentioned a few bows were being caught, but that most of the fish were cutts. Good to see people obeying the rules for the most part. The weather was beautiful, no wind, and I did notice something funny and blue up above us the whole day! Nice to be out of the smog/fog.
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Nice fish there TKB, i talked to ocean and he said that he got checked to, he was at the marina, and he said that another group of guys got a ticked for fish in the slot. I am used to the blue thing over head, but this morning the valley started to get infected with the smog and fog.
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[cool]Nice report, bee. Chicken Creek West wasn't berry nice to me either today. And, let me tell ya, it's a hell of a hike into that place. To get to 10 ft. deep of water it's about a mile (or it sure seemed like it! All that work for slow fishing. I only caught three, and that was more than anybody else around me caught. I noticed quite a few people even got skunked. I moved around 3 times and left the last spot at 1:30 'cause I had Mr. Mom duties awaiting back down here in smog (I mean fogville). On my way out, however, I did meet two guys that hoofed it out as far along the shore without hitting CCE as possible and said that they caught 30. I guess I should have hiked even further than I did.[unsure] Every time I go out icefishing I learn something new that will help me on a future trip. (note to self, next time going to CCW, take a 4-wheeler or snowmobile and go as far away to the east as possible where nobody else goes, 'cause less pressure at the berry = more fish.)
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I will agree it was berry berry slow today. I had to work this AM so didn't even get to the lake til 2:30. Took several friends and all the kids. We had about 19 people out there of which 9 or 10 were kids. The weather was incredible with lots of sun and blue sky and almost tee shirt weather until the sun went down. We fished at the marina in the same spot that we caught 26 fish at on tuesday and about 25 fish at about 2 weeks ago. And can you believe with almost 15 poles in the water and a very wide variety of jigs and baits, we did not get a bite, not a single one from 2:30-5:30. I would assume it was the time of day however in the past the bite always picks up at dark. Nada! Maybe it was all the people on the ice and the noise they can all generate. At least it was a beautiful day with friends and kids who all had a good time. Sounds like the ticket today was to get away from people in order to catch some fish!
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Tommy mentioned you'd be out there as well. I hollered out on the radio a couple of times, but since they are only line of sight devices, I'm not surprised you didn't hear me. We were out all most all of the way to the end of Jakes Bay. We had though about going around the point, but since we weren't finding a ton of fish, we didn't think it would be very beneficial...maybe we should have went a little further!
Bigcat, we also thought about hitting the Marina, but at the last moment we decided on CCE. The game warden said they were catching a few over there, but hadn't seen anyone really getting into them. That's too bad that you guys didn't get any bites. Good luck on your next trip.
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My grandson and I can also testify to it being a slow day around Strawberry Marina. We caught two just over 18" long, and lost one at the hole, and did a few other long releases. In the PM we headed to Lost Creek, and only managed one fish there in about 1 1/2 hours. At Lost Creek, I talked to one guy who was leaving as we arrived and two of them caught about 20 in two hours, and I talked to another group, who had fished a week earlier and caught lots of fish, and they only managed one fish yesterday.
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We fished on the north side of the marina and none of us caught a fish. There wasnt much catching on that side either seen maybe 5 fish caught in a big group that was out there in 4 hours .And there was a a group of that got ticketed for keepiing a fish in the slot limit.
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We had a slow day at the ladders also. Three of us iced 11 fish and lost 4 at the hole. All slots. We fished all day and I think we did better than most around us. I think the key is to get away from the crowds. We also found the fish didn't really have a favorite, we caught them on several different jigs tipped with different things. We were checked also. Here's a funny thing though that happened as we were leaving, there was a group of fisherman 50 yards further out from us and one group 50 yards further in. As soon as the sun was off their icehole and I mean the very instant, the group furthest out got a fish on, as soon as it was off my icehole I got a fish on and as soon as it left the last groups spot they got a fish on, it was like a switch was turned on for that very instant and we all landed one more. It was a great day even if it was a little slow.
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well at least you didnt get skunked.. looks like the weather was good for ya! thanks for the report.
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TKB- Ya that was the first time I've gone O'fer at the berry for a long time. But then again I usually fish tuesdays in the morning when I have most of the pond to myself. My last 3 trips before this one we land 25+ fish. I think it was just a slow day in the afternoon and with all the people. We'll see if that theory holds true on tuesday morning this week! Can't wait to get some revenge and rip some lips!
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[green][size 2]There was a skunk there! Do to user error mainly. At least the fish are well fed now.
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My brother and I rode up to dah Berry on Saturday also and got the about 7:30, and, I think we managed to find the second to the last parking spot at the marina parking lot. What a rat race, lol. He didnt want to drag the trailer & Wheeler up so we stuck close to the marina but from what I've hear the crowd in the East Portal area didnt far any better than we did. We managed to ice 3 and had 2 quick releases. Most of the fish we mark were crusers at 20 - 35 feet. We stuck around until about a 1:30. But hey the sun was shining and the W left us alone and I'd hit the ice for the third day in a row so its all good...
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I was up to the Berry on Thursday 1/20 and was able to ice 49 all by myself in 5 hours. By far the best day I've had up there. Caught 4 cutts over 22 inches. They all returned to the lake for another day. I was in 25 feet of water. There was some other guys about 20 yards from me not catching a thing. They were using the same thing as I, so it's hard to explain why I slammed them and they did not. I think it was frustrating them a bit as I was pulling them out one right after the other. I just must of been in the right place. The fish were in a feeding frenzy below my icehole. LOL
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